News

2 per cent wage cap: Gutwein arrogant, Hodgman weak

Liberal Government not listening to teachers, nurses, paramedics and other public service workers

Two per cent wage offer unfair and unreasonable despite Hodgman and Gutwein’s claims

GBEs receiving wage increases far above the wage cap

Labor Leader Rebecca White today called for the Hodgman Government to ditch its arrogant 2 per cent wage cap for Tasmanian public sector employees.

Ms White said “Labor stands with Tasmanian teachers, nurses, paramedics, park rangers and child safety officers who are among the thousands of committed public service workers currently facing a real wage cut from this Government.

“The Premier and the Treasurer have shown time and time again that they don’t value or respect our hardworking men and women.

“In contrast to that, last week it was revealed that many of the Government owned businesses are paying increases above the cap.

“One GBE is giving its hardworking team a rise of 4 per cent this year.

“In a ‘golden age’, it’s only fair that workers are rewarded for all their hard work – not taken for granted.

“The Treasurer is too arrogant to back away from his unfair and unreasonable pay offer, and the Premier is too weak to make him do it.”

Government deliberately tries to shield new children’s commissioner from RTI scrutiny

Details

Created: 22 November 2018

Government tries to protect new children’s commissioner from RTI scrutiny

Can the Premier honestly claim this is a coincidence?

Government interfering with independence of the role

The Government is deliberately trying to protect the new Commissioner for Children and Young People from scrutiny under Right to Information.

Labor Leader Rebecca White said it was no coincidence that a day after the appointment of the new Commissioner, the Government tried to amend the RTI Act.

“The Government is conveniently attempting to exempt this position from Right to Information when it has never been excluded before, “ Ms White said.

“Can the Premier honestly claim this is a coincidence or is this a deliberate attempt to shield the Government from further scrutiny?

“We know that in July last year, the former Commissioner for Children and Young People Mark Morrissey wrote to the Government asking it to consider including the position in the RTI Act.

“Why did it take the Government 16 months to act?

“We can only assume it is because the person appointed to this new role happens to be the Deputy Premier’s former Chief of Staff.

“The Government has interfered and removed the fundamental need for the Commissioner’s role to be entirely independent from government and free from political interference.”

Labor forges ahead with commitment to create more Tasmanian jobs

Details

Created: 12 November 2018

Labor working with key stakeholders to create jobs

The first IAC meets in Northern Tasmania today

More needs to be done to match skills with shortages

Labor is forging ahead with its commitment to work with stakeholders across the state’s key economic sectors to create more full time jobs in Tasmania.

The Labor Party today held the first meeting of its newly established Industry Advisory Councils with Daniel Leesong from the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chairing the Tourism, Hospitality, Festivals, Heritage and the Arts IAC at Perth this afternoon.

“We know that to create jobs, we need to have real conversations with the people who know our industries best,” Labor Leader Rebecca White said.

The meeting coincided with a tour of a local whiskey distillery, which is eager to attract more tourists and employ more Tasmanians.

“The owners of Adams Distillery at Perth expressed concerns over a lack of skilled workers available in Tasmania for its business,” Ms White said.

“This whiskey distillery has been so successful, the owners will soon need to employ another distiller but unfortunately they will need to look interstate and overseas as Tasmania lacks appropriate training courses for their industry.

“This is a common theme expressed by many businesses we are visiting around Tasmania and more needs to be done to match these skills shortages with the education and training being offered to Tasmanians.

“Our IACs will focus on the longer term challenges and opportunities facing Tasmania’s economy and our people, including education and training.”

Medicare jobs to go as Morrison breaks promise to Tasmanians

Details

Created: 30 October 2018

Medicare jobs outsourced to labour hire firm

Morrison Government breaching commitment to deliver Medicare from within public service

Liberals determined to privatise Medicare

The Morrison Liberal Government has broken a major promise to Tasmanians by outsourcing Medicare jobs in Hobart to a labour hire company.

Shadow Minister for Federal State Relations Rebecca White said the move by the Prime Minister to outsource up to 12 Tasmanian jobs breaks the Federal Government’s commitment to deliver services from within the public service and was further evidence of the Liberal’s determination to privatise Medicare.

“This is a shocking breach of trust by Scott Morrison, especially considering the Liberal Government gave a definitive commitment that no area of Medicare would be privatised,” Ms White said.

“Malcolm Turnbull made what he called an unequivocal commitment in 2016 that every element of Medicare services would continue to be delivered by government.

“To do otherwise now is an extraordinary betrayal of Tasmanians and local jobs.

“If Mr Morrison is serious about that commitment to Medicare and is serious about supporting and keeping federal public service jobs in Tasmania, he will step in and stop this outsourcing.

“Tasmanians and Australians are proud of Medicare and they rely on this crucial service that should not be contracted out to private companies by the government.”

Premier’s weak response to Courtney scandal farcical

Details

Created: 01 November 2018

Premier – again – shows he is too weak to take real action

More questions than answers after Premier’s performance today

Full reports into Minister Courtney and department Secretary must be released

Premier Hodgman’s farcical response to the Sarah Courtney scandal has once again highlighted a weak leader who is totally unprepared to make tough decisions and act in the best interests of Tasmanians.

Labor Leader Rebecca White said the Premier’s failure to take action against a Minister - even in the face of a clear breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct - proved his Cabinet members would not face reprisals for inappropriate behavior under his weak leadership.

“This is a desperately secretive Premier who is prepared to tolerate unacceptable behavior from the Liberal Members of Parliament who Tasmanians put their trust in to represent them and act with integrity,” Ms White said.

“Tasmanians are right to be questioning yet again this government’s lack of transparency and asking: What does a Minister actually have to do to get sacked by this Premier?

“Today it has been confirmed that Ms Courtney breached the Code of Conduct but despite this, the Premier has failed to remove her from his Cabinet, just as he has refused to move his failed Health Minister Michael Ferguson and just as he has refused to address other glaring problems with his government.

“The Premier must end the secrecy and release full, un-redacted copies of the reports he commissioned because right now there are more questions than answers.

“Tasmanians are no clearer today on the pertinent question of when exactly the relationship between Ms Courtney and Dr John Whittington began which is extremely important because of the conflict of interest and because it raises serious questions about every decision she has made as a Minister.

“The investigation has found that Ms Courtney should have disclosed her relationship on September 13 but the Premier says she told him on October 14 – given the serious nature of this conflict, why did it take more than a month?

“The Premier says Ms Courtney has been counselled but does the same apply to Dr Whittington?

“Were staff from DPIPWE interviewed as part of this investigation or were their concerns ignored?

“Have these investigations looked at the potential misuse of taxpayer funds in the course of the relationship between Ms Courtney and Dr Whittington?

“The Premier has to answer these questions – and others – and not attempt to sweep yet another scandal in his government under the carpet.”

Premier must show he is prepared to put health crisis above politics to implement solutions

Details

Created: 15 October 2018

Premier has opportunity to listen where Michael Ferguson has failed

Immediate steps proposed by Labor will support doctors, nurses and patients

Premier must show he is prepared to work collaboratively to find solutions

Premier Hodgman has an opportunity to show Tasmanians he is prepared to step in and provide solutions to the health crisis rather than play politics on this critical issue.

Labor Leader Rebecca White said the Premier should agree to work toward implementing workable measures that could be put in place quickly to alleviate unprecedented pressure on doctors and nurses, other health professionals and patients.

“Labor has presented the Premier with a detailed list of actions which are readily available to the government to help ease the pressure on emergency departments, reduce waiting lists and give Tasmanians access to the health care they need,” Ms White said.

“The Premier today has the opportunity to show that he understands this issue is above politics. We must work together to ensure this crisis is addressed today, not in 12 or 18 month’s time.

“Tasmanians want leadership from Premier Hodgman. Tasmanians are rightly tired of the arrogance of Michael Ferguson who does not want to act and clearly has no intention of providing effective solutions.”

Ms White called on the Premier to work with Labor to:

Release the full KPMG and Deloitte reports so health professionals and Tasmanians are fully informed about the current state of the health system.

Convene statewide roundtables with the relevant stakeholders, including the AMA, ANMF, HACSU and the RACGP, to listen to the views of professionals on the frontline. These must be led by the Premier.

Immediately commit to addressing the structural deficit in health funding identified by KPMG.

Listen to solutions proposed by frontline staff to address bed block at the Launceston General Hospital, specifically the ANMF proposal to increase permanent capacity in wards 4D and 4K and open all currently closed beds in the Intensive Care Unit.

Work with staff to increase capacity at the Royal Hobart Hospital to meet demand by making provision for 7-day discharge by staffing pharmacy, radiology, medical imaging and allied health after hours and on weekends.

Dramatically ramp up preventative health measures and programs in the community.

Reveal the plan and timeline for proposed mental health beds at Mistral Place and the Peacock Centre.

Provide funding for capital works at Millbrook Rise to provide treatment to mental health patients as a step-down facility and provide more accommodation in communities.

Invest in 10 public mother and baby unit beds statewide to support parents with newborn babies.

Appoint permanent Psychiatric Emergency Nurses to help assess, care and treat mental health patients in conjunction with psychiatric support, at the LGH and the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie.

Emergency Department waiting times worst in five years under Ferguson

Details

Created: 17 November 2016

More than 50 patients wait an extraordinary 24 hours in ED for month of October

90 per cent of admitted patients take almost 20 hours to get a bed

Ferguson’s Patients First initiative not working

Tasmanians are waiting for treatment in the state’s hospital emergency departments for longer periods than any time in the past five years under ineffective Health Minister Michael Ferguson.

Shadow Health and Preventative Care Minister Rebecca White said despite Mr Ferguson’s claims to the contrary, Tasmanians were waiting for unacceptable lengths of time according to data released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Ms White said in addition, information obtained by Labor also shows the time it takes for 90 per cent of admitted patients to get a bed has increased to 19 hours.

“The information shows that last month alone, there were 54 patients who spent more than 24 hours waiting in the emergency department at the Royal Hobart Hospital,” Ms White said.

“That’s an increase of 300 per cent compared to October last year.

“What’s most worrying is that these figures were compiled during a period when the hospital has access to flex beds.

“With Mr Ferguson’s much-delayed redevelopment finally about to get underway, frontline emergency department staff have legitimate concerns about the reduction in the actual number of beds available, particularly when these figures indicate that the RHH does not have enough beds currently to meet the demand.

“Just today we saw an alarming situation at the RHH with 16 patients forced to wait for over 12 hours for a bed and another seven waiting over 20 hours.

“That is not only dangerous for patient care, it represents a real danger for staff who are doing the absolute best they can to cope with a situation that Mr Ferguson continually denies is happening.

“Mr Ferguson needs to admit the situation is dire and work toward finding an actual solution.

“He needs to provide a guarantee that patients presenting to our hospital emergency departments will get the care they need on time and have access to a bed when they need one.”

Hospital project bungles put in doubt redevelopment plans

Details

Created: 01 August 2016

WHAT should have been a straightforward building project, pivotal to redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital, has been in chaos for more than six months.

It is worrying and upsetting to Tasmanians that their major capital city hospital should be at the centre of a chain of haphazard and avoidable bungles.

Also worrying is that the Hodgman Government and Health Minister Michael Ferguson seem determined that none of us will understand the true extent of what is going on.

Mr Ferguson and the Government’s appalling secrecy surrounding the debacle in constructing a temporary demountable building at the RHH forecourt is astounding.

Tasmanians want to know what is happening at the Royal and how we reached a point where the Government has so badly botched a temporary demountable building costing $22 million. There are serious questions about the ability of the Government and the Minister to deliver on the bigger picture — the actual $659 million hospital redevelopment.

Dangerous mould infestations have been discovered on the site. Workers have been sent home because the site is unsafe.

The contracted builder has had to pull sections of the temporary building apart, demolishing entire floors and put it back together again.

Sections of roofing have needed to be replaced, along with external cladding.

Drug use, mental illness red flags for child protection

Tasmania's child protection system has a problem. It is designed to intervene only when things get truly terrible for children and young people.

By taking this approach, insufficient emphasis is given to the cumulative harm children can endure over the course of their young lives.

We need to support children and young people sooner, rather than waiting until a threshold is broken or a crime is committed.

The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020 says it best — Australia needs to move from seeing “protecting children” merely as a response to abuse and neglect to one of promoting the safety and wellbeing of children.

The national framework clearly states that emphasis must be given to providing good universal services such as health, education and community services so that children can live in safe and supportive families and communities. Tasmania’s Child and Family Centres are perfect examples of places where all children and their families are welcome and where all Tasmanian parents and carers can access information and support from pregnancy onwards.

The early years are critical for the development of attachment and good social, emotional and physical health for all children.

There are many wonderful programs operating in our community to provide solid foundations for Tasmania’s children and their families, such as Pregnant and Young Parent Support, New Parent and Infant Network and Integrated Family Support. They really do change lives.

Labor’s Plan to Make Tasmania the Education State

Details

Created: 24 February 2016

When you sack more than 260 staff across Tasmania’s state primary and high schools – nearly 160 of them teachers – you are not acting in the best interests of education, let alone in the best interests of our future generations.

Yet in 2014 that’s what the State and Federal Liberal Governments did – slashing more than $2.1 billion from Tasmania’s public health and education.

Across Tasmania this month students have returned to school, but unfortunately it’s not all good news. Class sizes have blown out, in some cases to more than 30 students. The Liberals cuts mean resources for literacy and numeracy support have decreased, as well as music, drama and language classes – important programs that ensure students remain engaged in learning.

It means our kids are missing out.

This month a Labor Government has committed to restoring the damage done by the Liberals. We’ve spoken to teachers, students and parents and they’ve all asked us to repair the damage done to our schools.

Labor will invest in education because doing so makes our state stronger and fairer and because Labor stands for accessible and quality life-long learning. Labor will make Tasmania the Education State, in order to this Labor will:

Immediately restore teacher numbers to pre-Hodgman levels.

Support our teachers through improved training.

Invest in our students' future by reinstating pathway planning.

Restore the damage done to TAFE by keeping training dollars in Tasmania.

Make education a whole of life experience and encourage Tasmanians to reskill on the job via university or TAFE.

Public education should be valued and continually developed. Our schools and teachers are something to be safeguarded and enriched, not ripped apart.